Freight car apparatus



March 26, 1940. J WALSH 2,194,922

FREIGHT CAR APPARATUS Filed llarch 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 if I INVENTOR. v1; g3 26%;.

ATTORNEY.

J; T. WALSH FREIGHT CAR APPARATUS March 26, 1940.

Filed March 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 ue y w 99 2 F 9 ZU /////2 VV//// 0 I IN! Patented Mar. 26, 1940 I eArE r OFFICE FREIGHT GAR. APPARATUS John T. Walsh, Westfield,.Mass.

Application. March 20,1929, Serial No. 2 2,954

7 Claims. Y (01.105-369) This-invention relates to improvementsin what.

are'known in the freight-carrying business. as. closed type equipment and whichare more com,- monly known as freight cars having top walls and side doorsas contrasted with coal cars, for example.

Theinvention relates more particularly tothe provision of novel apparatus for associating with afreight or refrigerator car of common form in such a way that the contents of the car are supported-more firmly and safely than is now the practice. 1

It is a principal object of this invention to provide apparatus whereby crates or boxes of vegetables, for example, are packedtighter than is now possible and they may be piled one upon the other in the car in such a way that when the car is subjected to the usual shocksv encountered during the course of a journey, they will not tend to shufile or fall over so as to; injure the vegetables as is now the case. I accomplish this by meansof a novel movable support as will appear.

As a special feature of the invention, supporting or bracing apparatus is provided which is adjustable so as to accommodate cartons or boxes of various sizes. That is to say, crates of celery, for example, are of a moreor less standardsize which is much different than the size of the crates which now commonly car-ry grape.- fruit. Consequently, it can be readily seen that the number of crates of grapefruit which any given car will carry is difierent than the number of crates of celery that same car will carry.

It will therefore be seen that no matter how tightly the crates are packed in a car, there will invariably be spaces between some of them and the distance of these spaces will vary dependingupon the size of the boxes.

40, of course, which permit. the boxes toslide and crush into adjoining boxes, causing packages. to break and loosening up the entire 1oad.' Sometimes. they. will topple over so as to cause still greater damagev to. the goods.

It is now commonp-ractice, when loading a refrigerator canto first pack one end. and. then the other with the numberof crates. it can, contain and there. is always moreor less space between thehalves. vIt is usual. toinsert between those crates in one. end of: the car and those in the other enda removable upright gateof a standard thickness and size and this. has the objection that when the. gate is, removed and the car. is bumped or moved, the contentsv are loosened so 55. that damage results.

It is these spaces,

ages, such as those containing perishable. goods,

be held in. place. against shifting. 'Under. present practise :carscarrying. such special goods are not allowed whatis referred to as the"stop- 01f privilege, that is to. stop for. partial unloadingQfor the reason that when. the center gate is, removed and part of the car has'been unloaded, any, jolting of.-the car would cause the balance of the load. to..shift, or slide with consequent damage and. at great cost" to the carrier. The useof the apparatus of my invention, however, will result in the holding in place of a partial load, wherefore cars" so equipped and carrying these special goods. could" bev permitted the stop over privilege.

In other words, the usual gate;,no t being adjustable, is of little value even when the car is filled and is of no value whenthe. car has been partially unloaded. According to my invention, however, I" provide means whereby the'crates are held firmly in place up against the end wallsfof the car, regardless of" their number or size but at, the same time. If render them readily accessible. for removal when" desired.

Various other novel features and advantages of the invention.- will be hereinafter'more fully referred to in. connection withth'e accompany ing. description of the? preferred form of [the invention, reference being had to the; drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1' is a partial plan View supporting means of the invention;

Fig. 2. is a plan view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the means shown in Fig. 1;

showing the base" Fig. 3 is a side elevational viewof what is tion will firstbe described; thedrawings, Fig; 1 is asectional viewv througha car C having vertical side walls 2-, end walls Land afloor 6.. Ad,-

jacent the end.- wall l. is a partition wall. 8 which forms what is called an icebunker B.

Extending around the; inside of the car. proper and. extending upwardly from the: floor 6. is a frame-like member I0 of' rigid material such as iron. The frame is preferably. spaced from the 4,5 The base part. of the apparatus.- of. the invenpartition wall 8 as shown so as to permit slight movement thereof longitudinally of the car.

At spaced points along the floor 6 are a plurality of what I call spring-supporting units. Each unit preferabiy includes two pairs of oppositely disposed plate members I2 of rigid metal having upstanding parts 14 at their outer ends, as shown.

One pair of the members 12 of each unit is disposed adjacent one side wall 2 and the other pair is in alignment therewith and disposed adjacent the opposite wall 2. Extending away from each part 14 in the direction of the part [4 of the other member 12 of the pair are one or more tube or sleevemembers l6. Preferably there are three of such tubes as shown having their ends secured in some way to the parts l4.

Slidably carried by the forward ends of the tubes it; are other tubes l8. These latter are guided for sliding movements relative to the parts M as by an apertured upright member 20 associated in some manner with the plate l2 Within the telescoped sleeves l3 and I8 are spring members 22 arranged in such a way that the tube :8 is yieidingly urged away from part I4. At the same time, any shock given the forward ends of the tubes 18 will cause the same to move rearwardly and compress the springs 22,

, the tubes returning, under the action of the springs, to forward positions when the shock is over. j

Transversely of the car and between the pairs of plates of each unit extend rigid bars 24 having their opposite ends secured to the frame Hi, the

. I call a rack member. 55'

latter being preferably channel-shaped. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the bars are twisted intermediate their ends, as shown, so as to have their greater parts substantially horizontal so as not to interfere with the circulation of air from one end of the car to the other.

The arrangement is such that when the car is bumped, the supporting frame ill moves longitudinally of the car moving with it the bars 24 and causing them to contact the ends of tubes I3. This contact causes the sleeves to telescope and the springs take up the shock.

Preferably, one of the springs 22 of each set v is longer than the others. Thus, the middle sleeve 50 I8 takes the initial, and possibly more severe, shock while the shorter springs serve to minimize it still further.

I then lay on top of these various units what This consists of a plurality of adjacently-disposed strips 26 of wood or the like joined together to provide an auxiliary floor. The strips are preferably spaced apart, as shown, to facilitate circulation of air. This floor will be about the same length and width as the frame 10 and is preferably hinged thereto so as to move therewith. Preferably the rack is divided longitudinally and also transversely to permit its being swung up on its hinges (not shown) for cleaning purposes, etc.

In any event it will be appreciated that when the frame and rack move as when the car is jarred, the spring units take up the shock. A similar frame member It! extends around the upper side of the car as shown clearly in Fig. 5.

As stated, I associate with the base supporting means what I call bracing means and this is adjustable to accommodate crates of various sizes. That is to say, Imake it possible to load one end of the car with orange crates, for example,

and the other end with crates of lettuce and they all are firmly supported against shifting.

This means extends adjacent the side walls 2 of the car, as will now appear, and so cooperates with the base as to prevent the upper crates from moving off the lower ones when the car is jarred.

It is the practice to provide doors in the approximate middle of each of the side walls 2 of the car and these are, of course, to permit the loading and unloading of the car. I provide a pair of adjustable gate members which extend transversely of the car approximately midway of the doors and these are so arranged as to be movable towards and away from one another so as to brace the contents in the opposite ends of the car.

Extending away from opposite ends of each of said transverse adjustable gates in the direction of the adjacent end of the car are sets of other members. These sets of members extend longitudinally of and substantially adjacent the side walls of the car and it will be understood that there are two sets associated with the forward gate member and two sets associated with the rear gate member, each being substantially similar in construction. 7

In Figure 4, one of said sets is shown extending towards the forward end of the car from the far side of the forward adjustable gate. An upright member 30, preferably of channel-shaped metal, has its opposite ends rigidly secured to the upper and lower frames l and the car will have an upper wall 32.

A substantially U-shaped member, also preferably formed of channel metal, has side arms 34 slidable in the channels of said upper and lower frames and the arms are connected by an upright member 36. As the arms of the U-shaped member slide in the main frames, they, of course, move member 36 towards and away from upright 30, with which it is substantially parallel.

Extending from the member 36 towards upright 30 are one or more bolts 38 which have their opposite ends extending through suitable bearings 39 associated with upright 30 as shown. Thesaid opposite ends are threaded as indicated and there may be nuts such as 40 associated with the bolts which, upon being tightened, will prevent movement of the bolts relative to member 30 and which, upon being loosened, will permit such movement.

To facilitate such movement, when desired, I provide a rack 42 on the lower main frame l0 and associate with the lower side arm 34 a lever and ratchet member 44 having a gear 43 for engaging rack 42' and adapted to be actuated to move the U-shaped member relative to the frames I0. That is to say, the gear mechanism shown is adapted to move the U-shaped member so that the arms 34slide in the channels It! in one direction or the other, although it is to be understood that other moving means may be employed,

Another more or less U-shaped member has side arms 46 slidable in the channel members 34. An upright part 48 connects the arms 46 and preferably the upper end portion of said part 48 is somewhat curved as shown.

One or more horizontal rods 50 extend between the members 36 and 48 and are journalled for rotation in suitable bearings associated therewith. Gears 52 may be associated with the rods 50 and these will be in mesh with face gears 54 provided on opposite ends of a vertical rod 55 journalled for rotation in suitable bearings 58 carried by the member 36.

. mergers A manually e'ngageable member such as at" is carried by the front end'of one ofthero'ds 50.

arms 46 sliding in the channels 34-.

It' will now be seen that the first-mentioned U-shaped member may be moved relative to the stationary upright 30 and. since the secondnamed U-shaped member is associated with the first'one as described it will move with itrelative to the-end wall of the car. Then whenstill further adjustment isdesired, the second U- sh'apedmer'nber is adjustable relative to the first. As's'tated, the parts 48 (there is one facing the one shown on the opposite side of thefcar and in alignment therewith) are channel-shaped. The channels face inwardly and receive opposite endsof a pluralityof transversely-extending bar members 62.

These bars 62 may be'of iron and more or less flexible connecting means such as eyes 64 may secure the bars together sothat they form a normally vertical gate as shown. A flexible chain suchas 68 has its opposite'ends attached to the upper and lower sides of the gate and the chain engages sprockets 10, one adjacent the top of the car and another adjacent its lower side.

In the form shown, the-upper sprocket H! is associated with a bracket "attached to the upper arm 46 and a transverse rod 14 extends between the oppositely disposed upper sprockets. The lower sprockets 10 may be similarly associated with the lower arms 46 and a transverse rotatable rodTB may extend between them.

' It will thus be seen that rotation of the sprockets in one direction, by any suitable means, will move the gate up and rotation in the opposite direction will move it down. Preferably some means is provided to properly guide the chain 63 and for this purpose it may have associated with it dummy blocks (not shown) which will ride in the channels 48 and 46.

In order that the adjustment will be equal on both sides of the car, some form of pressure gauges (not shown) may be associated with the members 48 or the gate member in order that the pressure under which the crates are held may be determined and made uniform on both sides.

The gate shown in Fig. 4 will be adjustable, by virtue of the slidable U-shaped members, relative to the forward or left-hand end wall of the car; Thus, the left-hand end of the car may be tightly packed with crates and the gate shown caused to bear with the desired pressure against the load in that end of the car.

It will be appreciated that the bar members 62 forming the gate ride in the channels 48 and 46 so as to be movable between a truly vertical position where they will hold the crates in place and a more or less horizontal position underlying the roof of the car where removal of the crates is permitted. It will also be seen that when only one end of the car is to be unloaded, as during stop-0 only one gate need be lifted and the other may remain in holding position so that the crates in the opposite end of the car will not be disturbed.

If desired, there may be rack members similar to that on the floor of the car extending vertically and closely adjacent the side walls (and end walls if desired) of the car. These may serve to enclose the packages and prevent their spreadthe mechanism just described.

Preferably, too, there are suitable slide bearings' (not shown) associated with the top of the car to co-operate with the upper frame Illand strengthen the construction. These will serve to'prevent the whole loading device "from what is called jumping, that'is moving upwardlyoff the floor, when the car is jolted.

Similar bearings may be provided between the side walls of thecar and the loading apparatus to} prevent objectionable sidewise movement.

It" will be appreciated that-when the packages in opposite ends of the car are tightly packed and the transverse gate members have been adjusted ing-out as well as to space the'cratesf'awayfrom to their best bracing position, there will be a space between' the gates. That'isto say, as contrast'edwith prior art practise where thereis always more or less space between the packages and the removable gate, I; provide no space between the'crates and the gates but only between the gates;

I have'foundit possible to utilize this space by filling it intightly with still more packages. This may be done by lifting the gates after the crates in opposite end'shave been pushed-towards the end' walls of the-car as much as they can be and thenforcing packages into the space which will, of course, prevent any movement of the crates longitudinally of the car. 7

'While I have described the invention in great detail and witli respect to the present preferred form thereof, it is not-desired to be limited thereto s'ince'changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention 'maybe embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be consideredin all respects as illustrative andnot restrictive, the scope of the invention "being indicated' by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changeswhich come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended-to be embraced therein,

What it is desired to claim and secure by Let- 3 ters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a car having top, bottom, side, and end walls, supporting apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a horizontal frame member supported on the bottom wall for longitudinal movements, spring means associated with said bottom wall and said frame member for taking up shocks when the car is jolted, and substantially vertical bracing means associated with said frame member for bracing packages supported above said spring means, said bracing means including a pair of transversely-extending gate members guided in said frame member for ad ustable movements relative to one another.

and relative to said end walls, said gate members also being movable vertically.

, means associated with said frame member and adjustable relative thereto towards and away from said end walls for bracing packages suprights extending upwardly from opposite sides of said lower frame member, an upper frame member carried by the upper ends of said uprights, both of said frame members being generally channel shaped with the channels facing inwardly, U-shaped members having horizontal side arms slidable in the channels of said frame members and vertical connecting members, and a transverse gate member having its opposite ends normally guided by said connecting members.

4. In a car having top, bottom, side and end walls, supporting apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a horizontal lower frame member supported on the bottom wall, uprights extending upwardly from opposite sides of said lower frame member, an upper frame member carried by the upper ends of said uprights, both of said frame members being generally channel shaped with the channels facing inwardly, U-shaped members having horizontal side arms slidable in the channels of said frame members and vertical connecting members, a transverse gate member having its opposite ends normally guided by said connecting members, and means formoving said U-shaped members relative to said frame members.

5. In a car having top, bottom, side and end walls, supporting apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a horizontal lower frame member supported on the bottom wall, uprights extending upwardly from opposite sides of said lower frame member, an upper frame member carried by the upper ends of said uprights,

both of said frame members being generally channel shaped with the channels facing inwardly, U-shaped members having horizontal side arms slidable in the channels of said frame members and vertical connecting members, a transverse gate member having its opposite ends normally guided by said connecting members, and means for moving said U-shaped members relative to said frame members, said gate member being movable vertically.

6. In a car having top, bottom, side and end walls, supporting apparatus of the class described comprising in combinatioma horizontal lower frame member supported on the bottom wall, up rights extending upwardly from opposite sides of said lower frame membenan upper frame member carried by the upper ends of said uprights,

' U-shaped members having horizontal side arms slidable relative to said frame members and vertical connecting members, said side arms being channel-shaped, other U-shaped members having horizontal side arms slidable in said channels and vertical connecting members, and a transverse gate member having its opposite ends associated with the last-named connecting members.

'7. Ina car having top, bottom, side and end walls, supporting apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a horizontal lower frame member supported on the bottom wall, uprights extendingupwardly from opposite sides of said lower frame member, an upper frame member carried by the upper ends of said uprights, U-sh'aped members having horizontal side arms slidable relative to saidframe members and vertical connecting members, said side arms being channel-shaped, other U-shaped members having horizontal side arms slidable in said channels and vertical connecting members, and a transverse gate member having its opposite ends associated with the last-named connecting members, means for moving said other U-shaped members relative to the first-named U-shaped members.

JOHN T. WALSH. 

